Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey
by rioludoodle
Summary: The Konoha Eleven and the Sand Siblings suddenly find themselves pulled out of the Fourth Shinobi World War and in the place of their younger selves back where all the trouble started-The Chunin Exams. With Kakashi, Guy, and Yamato along for the ride, they'll mess with history. But first, they have to explain themselves to ANBU... WARNING: Spoilers. Time-travel fic.
1. Chapter 1 - It all started

**It all started... not with a beginning, but more like a middle**

It all started not with a beginning, but more like a middle. You see, the beginning of this tale would be either twelve or sixteen years ago, depending on how you look at it. The middle on the other hand, could be anywhere between that beginning over a decade ago and the end, which is nowhere in sight. Anyway, it all started with a great big flash.

There were too many genin to count in the room. It was a fairly large room, with rows of desks and chairs taking up most of the place. They all faced towards one teacher's desk at the front of the room, which had a black board located behind it. Most of the genin were tense and on edge, and for a very good reason. It was that bi-annual time of the year, the much anticipated and also very much dreaded Chunin Exam. Those who enjoyed and/or looked forward to the regular event were usually one of the following:

A) Terminally stupid.

B) Sadistic.

C) Examiners.

D) Overconfident.

E) Certifiably insane.

F) Jonin

or

G) Two or more of the above.

Most ninja fit under category G.

Ibiki opened the door of the room to find a group of Konoha genin, who had already been nicknamed the Rookie Nine, antagonizing the more experienced genin, most of whom were foreigners. One overconfident, terminally stupid blond in particular was doing a fantastic job of turning the entire room against his kill-me-orange clad self and his friends.

The chunin watchers behind Ibiki observed as the head of T&I was about to open his mouth and yell at the canon fodder-sorry, _genin_- only to be interrupted. By a great, big flash.

It was a bright, white light that suddenly filled the room and, unbeknownst to everyone else, a dusty corner of the building where Kakashi and Guy happened to be meeting with Asuma and Kurenai while a Wood-style using ANBU jumped in through a window to find his friend Kakashi. The flash, should anyone wonder, happened at that moment because it was precisely then that seventeen people and a dog happened to be in the same building at the same time, for the very first time. In the exam room, when the light faded less than a second later and everyone regained their eyesight, something was different. More accurately, fourteen things were different.

Where there once stood fourteen children and all within a twelve to fourteen year old age range and a puppy, there were now fourteen teenagers and a dog who seemed to be the same people, but roughly three years older. They were slightly scuffed up and looked like they'd just come from a battle field. Several of them were in taijutsu stances or holding weapons. One was riding a large white dog. Everyone in the room was frozen in shock, most of all the fifteen suddenly older additions.

Ibiki could recognize several of the new?comers, albeit older versions of them than he was familiar with. Hinata Hyuga, the Hyuga heiress. Shikamaru Nara and Ino Yamanaka, whose fathers he worked with occasionally. Kiba Inuzuka, one-half of the pranking duo that regularly wreaked havoc on the village. Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's misfortunate jinchuriki and the other half of the Leaf Village's most infamous pranking team.

The silence was thick enough to cut through.

* * *

In that little corner of the building where a quartet of jonin-sensei met, an ANBU landed on the floor unexpectedly and rather clumsily, immediately, getting back up and spying the group of four, ran towards them. He ripped off the mask covering his face to reveal that he was Yamato. Or Tenzo, if you wanted to get into technicalities. The last thing he clearly remembered was being brought to the Akatsuki lair by Kabuto and seeing that vile masked man, Madara.

"Kakashi! Guy!" He shouted.

The quartet of jonin spun towards the shout, the very confused Guy and Kakashi becoming even more so when they saw Yamato.

"Captain Yamato!" Guy exclaimed rather loudly. "Your Flames of Youth have escaped the Dousing of Evil that the Fiend Madara most Unyouthfully attempted!"

Yamato stopped running at that statement, sweatdropping instead. "Eheh. Uh, yeah. I think."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed in suspicion, the fact that both were revealed being a warning sign in itself. "Hold it, Guy." He used in arm to block Guy from dashing forward and crushing someone who appeared to be Yamato in a Hug of Youth. "He could be one of those Zetsu clones."

"Zetsu clones?" Yamato, Kurenai, and Asuma asked questioningly.

Suddenly noticing Asuma, miraculously alive and not a resurrection, the third Hokage's son took precedence over Yamato's appearance, which could've been explained by an escape whereas someone coming back from the dead wasn't quite so easily explained. Kabuto's Resurrection jutsu didn't count as an excuse. And as far as Kakashi knew, the Rinnegan's revival capabilities hadn't somehow been used, and he was also fairly sure that it couldn't work on someone who'd been dead as long as Asuma had.

"Asuma! My Peer and Comrade!" Guy exclaimed even more loudly. "You are Alive once again! And most Youthfully not a Resurrection!"

"Huh?" Asuma wheezed out as Guy crushed him in what the taijutsu master probably thought of as a hug. Kurenai looked at them awkwardly and with a lot of confusion, though not nearly as much as Yamato.

"Resurrection?" The ANBU captain asked Kakashi in confusion.

Kakashi on the other hand dismissed Asuma as already bound by Guy and interrogated Yamato. "Tell me something only Tenzo would know." He grabbed the wood-style user by his collar and glared threateningly.

"Shh! Don't call me that! I'm supposed to be Yamato, remember?!" He pushed Kakshi's arm away.

Kakashi blinked and then eye-smiled. "That'll do. Good to see you again, Ten-uh, Yamato."

He immediately turned back to Asuma, who was still being held hostage by Guy, who was crying Tears of Youth. Kurenai put her hands on her hips and demanded an explanation from Kakashi. "What's going on here?"

Kakashi took in Kurenai's not-swollen stomach and the view of the not-cratered village outside the window. And the four faces on the Hokage Monument. No fifth. "Time-travel? No, that's crazy. This has got to be a genjutsu."

At those words, Guy immediately stopped crushing the life out of a twitching Asuma and looked around himself. "That is a Perfect Explanation, Kakashi!" He exclaimed loudly, as he did with everything. "This Must be an Enemy genjutsu, designed to Trap Leaf shinobi like ourselves!"

After shouting the words louder than necessary, he clapped his hands together into a hand sign and yelled out. "Kai! Release!" With his eyes squeezed tightly shut in concentration. He opened them again and blinked in surprise at his surroundings, which were still the same. He tried again. "Kai! Release!" Besides a small wave of disruptive chakra, which did absolutely nothing to the supposed "genjutsu", nothing changed.

'Hmm...' Kakashi thought, looking around carefully with his Sharingan eye. 'This isn't a genjutsu. But that would mean... no, it couldn't be. Time travel is impossible.'

While Guy repeatedly tried to release a non-existent genjutsu, Kakashi remembered something. Or rather, someone. "Hold on, Guy, where's Naruto?"

* * *

Naruto sneezed, which disrupted the shocked silence of the exam room and finally triggered the trained response of the chunin in the room. Kunai and shuriken flew at the Konoha 11 and the three Sand Siblings, all of which were blocked by Gaara's sand.

The chunin immediately and quickly escorted the genin in the room outside and into the hallway

"Go, move it! They could be hostile!" One nameless chunin brought up the rear of the group moving out.

As soon as all the genin taking the exams were in the hall, a chunin who happened to be one of the gate guards ran down to the second floor to try and find at least one jonin. It was common knowledge among examiners that jonin sensei who ha"d students in the exams liked to wait on the second floor. Practically tradition, really. Speaking of tradition, attempts at attacking the host village during the chunin exams were pretty much to be expected. 95% of the time, they were stopped before they even started. 4% of the time, a lucky assassin made it to an exam site, only to be dealt with by an exam proctor. 1% of the time, something else happened.

It was the examiners' job to be on the alert for that 1%, and to have a plan if it happened. The gate guard, Kotetsu, who happened to also be one of the spotters of the first exam, was given the job of messaging the jonin whose genin students were taking the exam if something happened quietly enough to escape notice.

* * *

"Okay, what the heck just happened?!" Kiba yelled, accompanied by a bark from Akamaru, who he stepped off of after Gaara's sand shield came up.

"Yeah!" Naruto nodded his assent to Kiba's blunt way of putting their situation. "Where's Tobi-er, Obito, ugh, that Akatsuki jerk! Where'd he go?!"

Gaara's ultimate defense of sand streamed back into the gourd he carried with him. The Kazekage's arms were crossed, and although his expression was neutral, he was as confused as the rest of them were.

Shikamaru tensed, though he lowered the kunai blade he was gripping. "Questions later, situation now." He said. Shikamaru then blinked in surprise. What were they doing in a classroom? And with a good dozen armed chunin to boot? Wait, was that Ibiki glaring at them?

Yes, it was Ibiki glaring at the new additions who'd dropped in unexpectedly. He barked orders at them, hoping, but not counting on, their cooperation. "Stand down and you will not be harmed. We'll take you in for questioning, and if you work with us, we can sort this all out."

Upon seeing Konoha's infamous head of ANBU's torture and interrogation division, the drop-ins balked. This was an ally ordering them to stand down. The Konoha Eleven partially complied, putting weapons away, though keeping wary, battle-ready stances. Temari, having been involved with Konoha relations fairly often, also closed her open fan, though she didn't put it away. They were shinobi after all.

The rest of the Sand Siblings, on the other hand, didn't make an effort to comply. Gaara mostly because 'Standing down' for him wasn't that much of a difference between not. Kankuro, on the other hand, didn't because he was being a bit of an idiot at the time. "Hold on, Gaara's the Commander-in-Chief!" He pointed at his brother. "Unless you've got new orders from headquarters, you're out of line!"

A few of the spotter chunin glanced at each other in confusion while Ibiki growled. "You're the one who's out of line here, _foreign shinobi_."

"We're allies here, remember?!" Kankuro exclaimed, but then paused. "Wait, you guys must be some of those Zetsu clones!" He turned towards Naruto. "You said you got them all!"

"I did!" Was the irritated reply the puppeteer received.

Before any of the drop-ins could say another word, Ibiki yelled, silencing everyone. "QUIET!"

Shikamaru analyzed his surroundings during the moment of silence. He took in the stack of test papers on the desk in front of the black board. The time on the clock behind the desk. The all-too-familiar classroom. Ibiki and the spotter chunin. Subtly trying to disperse a genjutsu and detecting no change, he quietly said. "Neji."

The Hyuga prodigy replied. "I know."

Shikamaru then said. "Shino."

"I'm sure of it as well." The Aburame responded.

Before any of the louder members of the Konoha Eleven or the Sand Siblings could start something, Shikamaru nodded to Gaara. The Kazekage and Commander-In-Chief of the Allied Shinobi Forces softly but firmly gave an order. "Stand down. Now."

The Konoha Eleven and the Sand Siblings did so, taking hands out of kunai pouches and relaxing out of taijutsu poses. _  
_

Ibiki analyzed the situation. _They didn't completely obey me, but put away their weapons when I asked. From the ones who look like Leaf shinobi, it's expected, but the foreign ones were a surprise. Besides that puppeteer. Though it's the red-head I'm worried about. They all listened to him, though a little hesitantly on the part of Uzumaki and Inuzuka. _He waved to the chunin behind him, giving them the signal to relax a little. _If Kotetsu did as he should've, we'll have some jonin in here soon. And ANBU. Can't forget ANBU. They've been watching this building for hours._

Right on cue, the door burst open to admit five jonin and several ANBU burst in through the windows.

* * *

**AN:** And scene! There's the first chapter. :) The time-travelers still haven't come to terms with the time-travel, though the more observant ones are beginning to suspect. I'm not sure when I'll post the next chapter, updates on this story are going to be pretty splotchy. I write for this when I feel like it.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review!


	2. Chapter 2 - The T&I waiting room

**The T&I waiting room**

The Konoha 11 and the Sand Siblings tensed as the elite shinobi arrived. Ibiki, ironically, was the one who tried to reassure them as he stepped in front of the row of ANBU. "Just come with us quietly and this can be sorted out. Answer our questions honestly and willingly, and no one will be hurt."

The ANBU quickly rounded them up, and, using some preset teleportation seal that was already in the room for some reason, brought the drop-ins and the jonin to ANBU headquarters. Not that they knew that was where they were. Couldn't go around telling potential hostiles they were in the heart of ANBU, even if it was Ibiki's division.

Naruto blinked as he looked around the room. It was plain, with muddy forest-green walls and brown terracotta floors. The ceiling was a splotchy white, fluorescent lights installed above their heads. Everything besides the lights were seemless, though there was one wall that had a few dozen short black tubes sticking out of it. They stuck out about an inch, and were hollow, but besides that they looked an awful lot like Pain's chakra receivers. Probably to let sound go through for an interrogator to listen to, though he didn't realize it. Perpendicular to that wall was a six-inch thick steel door. Not a single piece of furniture was in the room, unless motionless ANBU guards counted.

Ibiki smirked. _These possible impostors don't seem hostile, but if they turn out to be, there's no way they know where they are, or how to get out._

Kiba sniffed the air, glanced at the guards, and then sniffed again. He grinned, then announced to Naruto (And the entire room). "Hey! We're in ANBU headquarters again!"

Naruto smiled as he replied. "I thought this place looked familiar!"

"Yup!" Kiba nodded proudly. "This is that waiting room we were tossed in after we swapped all the ANBU masks, remember?"

"Oh yeah!" Naruto loudly exclaimed. "I remember that! We got out through the window around the corner outside this room. Landed near Hokage Tower!"

The ANBU agents resisted the very strong urge to face-fault as two pranksters defeated the purpose of the secret teleportation. They settled for sweat-dropping instead.

Ibiki face-palmed before clearing his throat and saying. "Okay. Never mind that. This is the waiting room. You'll all wait here until we put you through some questioning and-"

A new ANBU agent teleported in and whispered in Ibiki's ear for a moment. The head of T&I frowned as he listened. He asked. "Who's _really_ ordering this?"

The ANBU whispered again.

"WHAT?!" Ibiki yelled. He slammed his fist into the wall in anger. "How did HE find out so quickly?!" Every ANBU in the room backed away from him a few feet.

The ANBU, who wore a badger mask and will be known as Badger from now on, tentatively said. "Um, sir, orders are orders."

Ibiki sighed as he thought. _I hate that geezer. He shouldn't have this much power, but he's manipulated his way up to the point where he controls nearly the entire council. It's only the clan heads that've managed to avoid his rotten roots. He needs to be put down, but ANBU hasn't found enough evidence to even push for an arrest. He's a sly snake, all right. That power-hungry leech.__  
_

"_Danzo_." Ibiki spat out the name like it was poison. He turned to Badger. "You're in charge of guarding these guys." He pointed his thumb towards the Konoha 11 and the Sand Siblings. "Keep at least four ANBU with you." Which translated to four visible agents and a dozen more hidden in the ceiling and outside the room.

Ibiki began slowly walking towards the door, fists clenched in frustration. He said. "Kakashi and friends, you guys come with me. Tenzo, you too, and explain why you're not in uniform."

Asuma and Kurenai followed Ibiki, but Kakashi, Guy, and Yamato stayed where they were. Ibiki stopped in front of the door and turned to face them "Why aren't you following?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head apologetically, saying with an eye-smile. "Well, you see, we're actually in the same boat they are, if you catch my drift." He gestured to the Konoha 11 and the Sand Siblings, who were watching the exchange with interest.

Guy nodded with his hands on his hips and loudly announced. "My Eternal Rival, Kakashi, and I recognize our youthful allies here!" He suddenly moved over to Team Gai and put his arms around them in a tight hug.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee sniffled. Neji and Tenten were more concerned with escaping Gai so they could breath.

Ibiki's mouth became shaped like a small 'o' as his eyes widened in surprise. Even the ANBU looked caught off guard. The Konoha 11 were generally confused, as were the Sand Siblings, but Shikamaru added the new information to his analysis of the situation. _So Kakashi, Guy, and Yamato came along too. But what about Kurenai and Asuma... Wait, ASUMA?!_

"Asuma?!" Shikamaru exclaimed, finally noticing his dead, recently resurrected and dead again, sensei. Ino and Chouji immediately noticed the smoker as well.

"Asuma!" The Ino-Shika-Chou trio exclaimed.

"You're alive!" Chouji yelled in surprise.

Asuma Sarutobi was very very confused. He also sweat-dropped when he saw his older team's reaction. "Why does everyone seem to think I'm dead?" He asked, before noticing. "Wait, you guys are older!" He stared at them.

At this point, Kurenai noticed as well. "W-what happened?!" The usually reserved woman was shocked. Her recently assigned genin team looked at least three years older than they should've been.

Ibiki grabbed the two of them by their collars and dragged the jonin out the door with him and into the hall. "There's a meeting on this issue and you two are witnesses. I'd drag Kakashi and Guy along too, but they seem to be involved. Now come on!" He shoved them out a window around the corner of the hallway just outside the waiting room.

* * *

Back inside the waiting room, the Konoha 11 were arguing very loudly.

"That was Asuma-sensei!" Chouji exclaimed.

"It couldn't have been! He's _dead_!" A skeptical Kiba replied.

Hinata timidly added. "Well... um... maybe he's alive... again?"

Ino was fighting with Sakura, holding her up by the collar. "That was Asuma-sensei, forehead, I know it!"

"He's dead, Ino-pig! No matter how much we want him back, he's dead!" The pink-haired kunoichi ripped Ino's arms away and dropped into an offensive stance. "This is some kind of trick! Or a resurrection! Ino!" She chased after her friend, who'd stormed off in Chouji's direction.

Naruto asked Lee. "Do you think that really was Asuma?"

"I belive it is so!" Gai's mini-clone replied.

In a corner of the room, Shikamaru, Neji, and Shino were gathered. "That was Asuma-sensei. And he wasn't a resurrection this time. I'm sure of it." Shikamaru said.

Neji nodded and confirmed. "I checked his chakra signature with my Byakugan. It's a match."

"All the more proof of our theory." Shino added in his soft voice.

"Yo." Kakachi suddenly appeared in the middle of the threesome.

They jumped away on instinct. Shikamaru said. "Don't scare us like that, Kakashi." They gathered around the Copy-nin, who leaned against the wall, seemingly relaxed.

"So." The masked ninja began. "You guys suspect it too, eh?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Asuma-sensei is alive. And Kurenai isn't pregnant. All the more evidence we have."

"ORDER!" Badger yelled into the crowd. The squabbling ninja suddenly stopped their in-fighting and listened. "I have no idea what has all of you so angry, but if you don't quiet down, I have authorization to use force. This is a holding cell and you are the prisoners until we know what to do with you. We're in charge here."

The Konoha 11 glanced at each other, as did the Sand Siblings, and the Leaf ninja went right back to arguing.

Gaara seemed ticked off. Temari and Kankuro knew this was never a good thing, and immediately ducked behind one of the ANBU guards. Sand flowed out of the gourd on his back and discretely moved itself between arguing groups. It then exploded. Not large explosions, just enough to catch the attention of the Konoha 11.

Gaara said. "Stop. Now. Sit down and be quiet."

Everyone immediately obeyed. Gaara made quite an effective Kazekage/Commander.

* * *

**Twenty minutes later...**

Kakashi finished his discussion with Shino, Neji, and Shikamaru. They nodded to him and shifted over to their respective teams. Yamato was with what was left of Team Seven, who were very bored, as Kakashi sat down. Ino and Chouji looked very conflicted, and the cause was obviously Asuma, as Shikamaru sat to face them. Shino silently appeared behind Kiba and Hinata, who were petting Akamaru between them, and prepared to speak. Neji grabbed Guy and Lee, who were jogging in place, and plonked them down next to Tenten, who was cleaning a kunai. He sat down and faced them.

"We have a theory..." They all began in a whisper.

* * *

**AN:** Sorry about choppiness of this chapter, but I couldn't get the transition from the Asuma argument to sitting around being bored very smooth. It was hard. Anyway, I'll be working on the next chapter when I want to, but it'll likely be up within a week or two.

Please review!


	3. Chapter 3 - The Council Meets

**The Council Meets**

Sasuke growled at the tree he was currently beating up. He couldn't believe it! They'd just delayed the Chunin Exams! And all because of some stupid prank the Naruto and Kiba had probably talked the others into. At least, that's what he assumed it was. And what else could it be? That flash of light was obviously a flash bomb so that those other worthless Leaf Nin and that trio from Suna could use the Transformation Technique unseen. The idiots. They'd wasted his time.

The Chunin Exam was going to be Sasuke's chance to prove that he could and would kill Itachi. Now, he'd have to wait an entire day to take it.

He quickly made a series of hand signs and shouted out angrily. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" And shot out an enormous ball of flames at the tree. It left a deep indentation and a scorch mark spanning at least five feet on either side of the poor tree. "Hmph." Saskue glared at the oak for a moment before he began to make his way back towards the village.

Unknown to him, however, he hadn't been alone in the forest. Hidden behind a cluster of boulders near the misfortunate tree he'd used for training, was the traitor sannin, Orochimaru.

"Kukukuku, Sasuke." The traitor chuckled to himself, running a misleadingly delicate looking white hand along the burned bark of the target tree. "The exams might have been delayed, but you'll still make a fine apprentice... But thanks to that unexpected disturbance, I'll have to move my plans up a little before I'm caught... Now where is that team from Grass?" He slithered into the darkness of the forest nearby.

* * *

Ibiki Morino hated council meetings. Well, council meetings arranged and manipulated by Danzo, at any rate. Then again, who didn't? Unfortunately for him, a rather large percentage of council meetings were arranged by Danzo. Not openly, most of the time, but he was most certainly the one pulling the strings behind discussions, if not the issues themselves.

_How did that slimy leech even find out so quickly?_ He wondered to himself as he led Asuma and Kurenai down the corridors of the Hokage Tower. _The worm must've had his pawns spying on the Chunin Exams. Figures. Probably checking potential ROOT candidates, if that branch even still exists. Knowing Danzo, it probably does._

He pushed open a red-painted door and walked inside, Asuma and Kurenai coming in behind him. Asuma, being the bolder of the two, asked. "Um, why do we need to be here?"

Ibiki growled a response. "Because you're involved."

"But we have no idea what's happened here." Kurenai protested.

"Quiet." The head of ANBU's torture and interrogation division hissed.

The two jonin he'd dragged along finally became aware of the stares of the council.

"Glad you could join us." A fat, greasy, middle-aged man said disdainfully. He was on the council because he was in charge of the civilian market district, and he didn't particularly like shinobi. Why he'd moved to a shinobi village in the first place, no one knew. His name was Gurisu and no one cared about his last name, because everyone called him Gurisu anyway. It was confirmed among ANBU that Danzo had heavy influence over the man.

The third Hokage gestured for Ibiki to sit down somewhere at the round table, and he chose a seat as far away from Danzo as he could. The bandaged man in question was sitting next to one of the Hokage's advisers, Homura his name was. Asuma and Kurenai chose to follow Ibiki and sat down on either side of him.

"Good." Old man Sarutobi, the third Hokage, called the meeting to order. "Now, just what is it that this meeting was convened for?" Though he face everyone else in the room, his eyes were on Danzo.

Homura stood to start speaking, but the Third waved him down. "Danzo, if you would speak for yourself, please."

_Hmph._ Ibiki thought._ At least the leech is getting called out on his influence over the council. In politician speech, of course._

Danzo stiffened, but stood and said. "This is about the group of shinobi who appeared during the written portion of the Chunin Exams. They replaced several important genin who were in the room, including the Kazekage's children, several of our clan heirs, though not including the last Uchiha, and our jinchuriki." He used the word 'our' like he thought it should be 'my'.

* * *

In the ANBU T&I waiting room, the Sand Siblings and a few of the Konoha 11 suddenly sneezed all at once.

Kankuro said disdainfully. "Ew. I feel like someone disgusting is talking about me." The grimace on his face and several others spoke of agreement.

Shikamaru sighed. "How about we get back to the topic? We haven't even told you the theory yet."

* * *

In the council room at the Hokage Tower, Danzo continued. "A few of our elite jonin, Kakashi Hatake, Guy Maito, and the ANBU operative who uses the First Hokage's Wood Style, also claim to be with the impostors."

* * *

Said elite jonin sneezed as well, and the rest of the drop-ins looked at them.

Guy loudly announced. "Now I have the feeling of Unyouthfulness as well."

Kakashi said. "Same, though not in those exact words."

Shikamaru sighed. "Know what, we'll tell you later." He, Neji, and Shino shifted together again to discuss their theory that, to the others, was apparently less interesting that sneezing. Kakashi was with them.

As the white-haired jonin left his team again, Yamato crossed his arms and mumbled. "For some reason, I feel offended that someone doesn't know my name."

* * *

Ibiki startled at Danzo's last sentence. Not physically, of course, he was a trained ANBU, but mentally he jumped out of his seat. _How does that... that **politician**_- It was quite an insult from Ibiki's point of view, who had to dealt with politics enough to know that politicians were the worst kind of people. - _know about the jonin?! We just found out a few minutes ago, and only because they said so!_

Danzo's eye glanced towards a stoic Ibiki, who was carefully maintaining a stern but neutral expression on his face, after he said his piece. He didn't sit down though. He was waiting.

_That manipulative leech._ Ibiki mentally growled. _He wants ANBU to know that he knows that we know. Tricky son of a b-_

That eloquent thought was never finished, as Danzo said. "Ibiki Morino, do you have something to say?"

Ibiki stood, and replied. "Actually, yes, I do." Though his words were for the entire council, his eyes were focused on the founder of ROOT. "We haven't interrogated these shinobi yet, and have absolutely no proof that they're impostors."

Danzo opened his mouth, prepared to argue with something along the lines of 'Guilty until proven innocent' in politician speak, but was cut off by the head of T&I.

Ibiki made a cut-off motion with his left hand and slammed his right fist down on the council table for emphasis. "They're suspicious, but for all we know they're just a bunch of genin who dragged a few jonin into a prank!"

* * *

Walking through the village gates with a frown on his face, a slouch in his posture, and his hands in his pockets, Sasuke Uchiha paused for a moment and thought. _I feel vindicated for some reason._

"Hn." He shrugged and continued on his way.

* * *

Ibiki continued. "At least hear an eye-witness account before you decide to execute them without listening to their side of the story!" He sat down in his chair as the room filled with a stifling silence.

After a few moments, Ibiki picked up the two jonin next to him by the backs of their collars and hauled them up to a standing position. "That means you two." He growled out.

"Oh! Right!" Asuma nervously exclaimed, his fingers twitching for a cigarette.

Kurenai looked sheepish. "Sorry. Um, how about I just use our memories for a genjutsu to show everyone?"

The Hokage nodded.

Asuma shrugged. "Sure. Do you need my help?"

Kurenai answered. "Just give me your hand."

Asuma blushed the faintest bit before holding our his hand to her. Kurenai grabbed his and made a ram seal using his left hand and her right. "Kai!" She shouted.

The room became enveloped in a genjutsu as everyone saw the memory of half an hour ago. Somehow it was third-person, though no one wanted to question the physics of the ninja world. It was a fairly rare, but relatively well-known phobia among shinobi that the laws of physics would one day realize that they didn't matter squat to ninja and decide to do something about it. There was also the fact that questioning the wrong ninja would likely get you killed, and a large portion of the council consisted of civilians.

Anyway, as the waves of light Kurenai had put into place became clearer, you could start to see images.

_In that little corner of the building where a quartet of jonin-sensei met, there was a bright flash of light, which forced Kurenai and Asuma to cover their eyes, and an ANBU landed on the floor unexpectedly and rather clumsily. Immediately getting back up and spying the group of four, he ran towards them. He ripped off the mask covering his face to reveal that he was Yamato. Or Tenzo, if you wanted to get into technicalities. _

_"Kakashi! Guy!" He shouted._

_The quartet of jonin spun towards the shout, the very confused Guy and Kakashi becoming even more so when they saw Yamato. The two jonin mentioned were already in battle stances for some reason while Asuma and Kurenai weren't._

_"Captain Yamato!" Guy exclaimed rather loudly. "Your Flames of Youth have escaped the Dousing of Evil that the Fiend Madara most Unyouthfully attempted!"_

_Yamato stopped running at that statement, sweatdropping instead. "Eheh. Uh, yeah. I think."_

_Kakashi's eyes narrowed in suspicion, the fact that both were revealed being a warning sign in itself. "Hold it, Guy." He used in arm to block Guy from dashing forward and crushing someone who appeared to be Yamato in a Hug of Youth. "He could be one of those Zetsu clones."_

_"Zetsu clones?" Yamato, Kurenai, and Asuma asked questioningly._

_Suddenly noticing Asuma, the third Hokage's son took precedence over Yamato's appearance, and Guy noticed him as well._

_"Asuma! My Peer and Comrade!" Guy exclaimed even more loudly. "You are Alive once again! And most Youthfully not a Resurrection!"_

_"Huh?" Asuma wheezed out as Guy crushed him in what the taijutsu master probably thought of as a hug. Kurenai looked at them awkwardly and with a lot of confusion, though not nearly as much as Yamato._

_"Resurrection?" The ANBU captain asked Kakashi in confusion._

_Kakashi on the other hand dismissed Asuma as already bound by Guy and interrogated Yamato. "Tell me something only Tenzo would know." He grabbed the wood-style user by his collar and glared threateningly._

_"Shh! Don't call me that! I'm supposed to be Yamato, remember?!" He pushed Kakshi's arm away._

_Kakashi blinked and then eye-smiled. "That'll do. Good to see you again, Ten-uh, Yamato."_

_He immediately turned back to Asuma, who was still being held hostage by Guy, who was crying Tears of Youth. Kurenai put her hands on her hips and demanded an explanation from Kakashi. "What's going on here?"_

_Kakashi took in Kurenai's not-swollen stomach and the view of the not-cratered village outside the window. And the four faces on the Hokage Monument. No fifth. "Time-travel? No, that's crazy. This has got to be a genjutsu." He mumbled under his breath._

_At those words, Guy immediately stopped crushing the life out of a twitching Asuma and looked around himself. "That is a Perfect Explanation, Kakashi!" He exclaimed loudly, as he did with everything. "This Must be an Enemy genjutsu, designed to Trap Leaf shinobi like ourselves!"_

_After shouting the words louder than necessary, he clapped his hands together into a hand sign and yelled out. "Kai! Release!" With his eyes squeezed tightly shut in concentration. He opened them again and blinked in surprise at his surroundings, which were still the same. He tried again. "Kai! Release!" Besides a small wave of disruptive chakra, which did absolutely nothing to the supposed "genjutsu", nothing changed._

_'Hmm...' Kakashi thought, looking around carefully with his Sharingan eye, which suddenly wasn't covered by his headband._

_While Guy repeatedly tried to release a non-existent genjutsu, Kakashi remembered something. Or rather, someone. "Hold on, Guy, where's Naruto?"_

The genjutsu dissolved into a few ribbons of light that quickly faded away. "That's exactly what happened." Asuma said with a cigarette in his mouth. Commenting rather inappropriately. "I love that bit with Guy." He pulled out the paper tube and blew a stream of smoke. He was eerily imitated by his father, the Third Hokage, at the same time.

Said Hokage spoke to the room, though his eyes were on Danzo. "It seems to me that we should investigate this further before taking action. Danzo, I believe this meeting Homura called was premature. I'll go with Ibiki myself to talk to these shinobi."

* * *

**AN:** Third chapter done! And a lot sooner than I thought, too. Sorry that Shikamaru and his crew couldn't talk about their theory, but Danzo _insisted_ that I write something with him in it. The author might do the writing, but the story pulls the strings. Next chapter coming up, the Third Hokage meets the drop-in shinobi! What'll they think of him coming back to life? Tune in next time, on the somewhat serious fanfiction with a ridiculous title! I honestly thought this story would be primarily a humor ficlet. Ah well, go with the flow!

The next update will hopefully be within a week or two, though don't expect it to come early like this one.

Please leave a review, the council demands it. ;)


	4. Chapter 4 - The T&I draining room

**The T&I draining room**

Ibiki, the Third Hokage, two jonin, and six clan heads landed through an open window in ANBU headquarters. It was like the start of a bad joke or a lousy chapter. The clan heads stuck to the middle of the group, the Hokage and Ibiki in front of them, and Asuma and Kurenai behind. They were Hiashi Hyuuga, Tsume Inuzuka, Shibi Aburame, and the famous first generation of the Ino-Shika-Chou trio. Quite a gathering, though they didn't have much in common, they were all concerned about their children.

"This way." Ibiki said, gesturing for the rest of the group to follow. They rounded a corner, and as the head of T&I was about to open the door to the waiting room, a small ANBU agent in a rat mask appeared in front of him. He had dark hair and pale skin, and couldn't have been much older than a new genin. Almost certainly a member of Danzo's precious foundation.

Rat grabbed Ibiki's wrist and stopped him from touching the door handle. It was a tight grip, and Ibiki's hand was only an inch away from the silver handle. "Sir, it is policy to wait for the receivers to finish before interrogating captured spies."

_Ah,_ Ibiki realized. _This is Danzo spiting us._

"We're going to skip the standard procedure for this." Ibiki replied.

The pale ROOT operative didn't let go of his wrist, instead gripping it even tighter. "In a non-emergency situation, procedure cannot be overridden."

Several of the clan heads were becoming impatient. Tsume Inuzuka most notably. She stomped right up to Rat and grabbed him by the collar, her angry face glaring at the porcelain mask. "Listen, brat." She spat out. "Whoever the hell it is in there did something to my son, and if I can't see 'em right now-"

The disturbingly calm ROOT agent didn't even flinch.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, placed a hand on Tsume's shoulder. The head of the Inuzuka clan grudgingly let go of the foundation ANBU and stepped back. "I'm sorry about that, but we would like to see these mysterious shinobi."

A quick and flat reply came immediately. "No one can override the decision the council has made. The spies are to remain in the draining room until they are deemed safe."

"We never made that decision." Hiashi stated with a stern expression.

The other clan heads nodded, Tsume growling. Shikaku Nara said. "And Lord Hokage never verified it, as far as I know."

Said Hokage looked shocked. "I didn't!" He exclaimed in his old, weathered voice.

They all looked to the ROOT agent for a reply. "In the event that the Hokage is not present at a meeting, if over half the council is accounted for, an 80% majority vote will be considered a verified decision that cannot be repealed for at least two days, even should the Hokage return before the trial period is finished."

It was a direct quote from Konoha's ancient lawbooks. Danzo had manipulated Homura into calling a full council meeting. The Hokage had had enough and decided to interfere with Danzo and the drop-in shinobi. He'd left the council room with several key members not under Danzo's influence. They'd all played into Danzo's hands.

Ibiki doubted that Danzo was genuinely interested in the mysterious group. Not yet at least. The slippery leech was likely just using them to make a point. His favorite point, most likely.

_He's practically saying that Lord Hokage fell into his trap again, and should just hand him the hat._ Ibiki thought. _He's undermining Sarutobi's authority, trying to get the full council to elect __**him**__ Hokage._ He paused to rip the foundation ANBU's hand off his wrist and glare at the unfeeling child. _It won't work though... As long as Inoichi and the others are still the clan heads, and I'm the ANBU representative, he'll never get a full council vote._

Ibiki inwardly smirked while still glaring at the ROOT agent. _Long as we're in charge, and the old man's still alive, he'll never get the job. Even if Sarutobi dies, he'll have a successor named in his will, and it'll be either Tsunade or Jiraiya. They might not be willing at first, but if they hear that Danzo's the other candidate, they'll take the hat. Only way that leech'll get the job with the Sannin still alive is with a full council vote._

The Third Hokage frowned as he spoke to Rat. "But with so many people in that room, the draining receivers could take hours. And what if there are health issues? You know that room was never meant for so many people, or to take so long!"

The foundation ANBU nodded politely but not pleasantly, and replied. "You'll have to wait."

_Darn._ Ibiki thought. _I really don't think they're impostors in there. Something just happened with those genin, Kazekage's children, clan heirs, and jinchuriki included. This is going to cause a whole mess of things. Danzo's putting on the pressure._

Tsume took the liberty of spitting at Rat. She growled and glared, but had no choice but to comply with the decision that oligarchy of a council made. She leaned against the wall to wait, tense and ready to leap at anyone stupid enough to bother her. Hiashi didn't physically react, but Ibiki could tell he was bothered. The Ino-Shika-Chou trio were discussing something, though Ibiki didn't want to eavesdrop. Shibi Aburame was as hard to read as ever.

_The clan heads. Leaders of their time. _Ibiki thought wryly. _Wonder what the next generation's gonna look like._

He then came to a shocking realization. _Danzo-he wants to get his claws on the clan heirs! This whole thing with spies and impostors-he wants the clan heirs in that room! By clan laws, once the heirs are old enough, they can challenge their parents for leadership of the clan-and representation on the council! If that leech brainwashes and trains them, he could use them to get a full council vote if he takes me out. It's a sketchy plan, but knowing Danzo, he can make it work. God, I hope those genin have something up their sleeves. They're not impostors, but if Danzo can make people think they are, they're all his._

* * *

Inside the waiting room, Kakashi was now discussing something with Guy and Yamato. Though the ANBU guards were still as statues, it was quite obvious that they were listening in on every conversation.

"We've been in here a while already." The infamous Copy-Nin said.

"I know." Yamato replied.

Guy loudly responded. "I don't Understand what you Speak of! Though this Room is not Pleasant or Youthful, it is Perfectly Fine!"

Yamato sighed. "Guy, they called this the 'waiting room', but this is the really the draining room. You might not've been in ANBU, but Kakashi and I have, and we know what this place does."

"Hm?" Konoha's Green Beast (Known in some circles as Konoha's Green Nutcase) questioned.

At this point, the Konoha 11 and the Sand Siblings were listening in, and even though the jonin-sensei knew it, they answered so that the younger generation could hear. They needed to know the dangers.

Kakashi's visible eye looked deceptively sleepy and relaxed. "This is the draining room. It used to just be a normal room, a few years ago, but then they installed those things on that wall." He pointed a thumb behind him at the wall with the black tubes.

The younger generation and Guy listened carefully.

"Naruto." Kakashi said. "What do those remind you of?" He gestured to the wall once again.

Naruto Uzumaki was a little confused, but the blond answered his teacher. "Er, well... They look like Nagato's chakra receivers to me."

"Exactly." Kakashi's expression went from relaxed and sleepy to wary and paranoid in less than a second. He popped up in front of Naruto's face with a flashlight under his chin. Somehow, the lighting on his face was spooky even with his mask on and the florescent lights above.

"Wa-ah-ahhhh!" Naruto fell over backwards.

Yamato complained. "That's _my_ thing!"

The rest of the group looked at the two ex-ANBU with expressions that clearly said. "Really? Now?"

Yamato sweat-dropped and chuckled nervously before he decided to continue where Kakashi had left off.

The Wood-Style user said. "Well, that's about as accurate a comparison as you can get, though these are kinda the reverse. These are chakra draining tubes. They toss potential dangers in here to weaken them."

He continued speaking with the attitude of an academy teacher. "It's dangerous though. When there's more than one person without a ANBU sealed clearence, the chakra gets drained from both whether or not one person has more than another, and it doesn't stop until both are below a 'danger level'. The person with less chakra could end up with severe exhaustion and depletion problems. It won't kill anyone, there's a safety measure against that, but it'll definitely be a problem."

Kakashi added. "Fortunately for us, there's a maximum capacity, and with all of us in here we should hit that mark in an hour or so." He eye-smiled. "Oh, and the closer you get to those tubes, the faster it drains you, so Lee and Tenten, move away as much as you can."

Everyone besides Gaara face-faulted before leaping back to their feet and yelling. "Don't you think you should've told us _SOONER_?!"

"And why me and Lee?!" Tenten asked.

Kakashi replied. "You and Lee have the lowest reserves out of all of us, so you two need to stay the farthest away. You'll last longer this way." His expression, judging from what they could see of his face, looked serious.

The ANBU guards didn't physically react to the older jonin telling the younger generation about the draining tubes, but you could feel their suspicion of the group rising.

Lee and Tenten did as Kakashi said and moved to the opposite wall, albeit grudgingly. The rest of the group scooted away from the tube-laced wall, though some of them more than others. They knew their own capacities.

Gaara, however stayed exactly where he was, standing silently against the wall, closer to the tubes than anyone else was besides the immune ANBU guards.

"Gaara?" Temari asked her brother, concerned about him. "Gaara? You okay?" She tried louder, attempting to get a reaction.

He reacted. Violently and involuntarily. Sand shot out of the gourd he always carried with him whipping around and around above their heads in a mad frenzy. Gaara gripped his head tightly, and screamed. "AAAAAGHHH!" He collapsed to his knees and leaned forward onto his elbows, still squeezing his forehead.

"Tsssss!" He hissed in pain.

"Gaara!" Several people yelled, covering their eyes as the sand violently streamed around the room. The ANBU guards tried to move closer to restrain the redhead, but were blasted back unceremoniously. They weren't hurt or unconscious though, only shoved against the walls. Temari and Kankuro tried to get to their brother, but whips of sand shot out towards them as well. They flinched, prepared for the worst, but Gaara suddenly shoved out a fist and the sand streams paused.

"No." He hissed out. Temari and Kankuro looked on, somewhat amazed.

They were both thinking the same thought. _Gaara__ never would've done that a few years ago._

"Gaara! What's wrong?!" Naruto shouted out to his friend, ducking underneath a speeding clump of sand.

The Kazekage shivered and turned his head to look at his friends and siblings. He grimaced and winced as the throbbing, howling pain in his head intensified at even that small effort. He answered Naruto's question though, whispering a word, a name, that was heard even through the artificial sand storm.

"Shukaku." The sand spirit.

* * *

**AN: **Cliffhanger! Mwahaha!:) I can't believe how early I finished this chapter. I really didn't expect to even start it for another day or two. Heh, I guess I'm even worse at update predictions than Tsunade is at gambling. :P Anyway, sorry that I couldn't have the Third meet the future Konoha 11 in this chapter. Shukaku woke up and demanded his own mention.

Please review! Oh, and there's a poll on my profile on the Shippuden anime. Please vote! :)


	5. Chapter 5 - Paranoia comes in handy

**Paranoia comes in handy**

"Shukaku." The sand demon.

The other occupants of the room were shocked and a healthy amount of fear was evident on their faces. They echoed Gaara's last statement. "Shukaku?!"

Even the ANBU guards busy trying to escape the grip of the sand claws that attached them to the walls were shocked into stopping their movements. Apparently, no one had told them there was a second jinchuriki in their midst, and one with an unstable seal at that. "We are _so_ dead." A rookie ANBU muttered to herself. They couldn't even radio the additional guards in the soundproof ceiling or outside in the hallway. Heck, they couldn't move their arms.

_Curse those silencing seals_. The captain, Badger, thought. _Whoever thought of adding those on the door is insane!_

* * *

Somewhere in downtown Konoha, a small, wooden dango shop stood. Inside that dango shop, a purple-haired, brown-eyed, scantily clad... erm... _special_ jonin sat, stuffing herself on her favorite treat. "Achoo!" She sneezed before rubbing her nose.

"Ibiki's probably thinkin' 'bout me." She snickered. "I'm not late, am I?" She glanced at a clock mounted on the wall behind the store's counter. "Hm, nope. Still got fifteen minutes." Anko went back to snacking on dango.

* * *

"Gaara!" The other two sand siblings exclaimed.

Kankuro whipped out a storage scroll and summoned his black ant puppet. "Go! Black Ant!" He yelled out, sending the retrieval puppet towards his brother, hoping to contain the Kazekage. A few finger twitches, quick evasions, and one giant fist of sand later, Kankuro was down one puppet.

Temari tried next, slamming her giant fan to the ground and sliding it to an open position. The long-distance attack specialist yelled. "Wind-Style!" She held her weapon of choice out to her right side and then whipped it around, fanning the sandstorm away from the rest of her friends. And Kankuro too. Mustn't forget the annoying brother. The streams of sand let off for a brief reprieve before coming back at them with a vengeance.

"Tch. Troublesome woman. Kankuro, Temari, get the ANBU out of those sand coffins before Shukaku remembers Gaara's favorite jutsu." Guess who. Shikamaru stepped forward to try next. He formed a hand sign that anyone familiar with the Nara clan would intantly recognize. "Shadow Possesion Jutsu!" A look of intense concentration and focus that would remind anyone of Shikamaru's father became visible on his face as the jutsu reached Gaara.

The shadow possession almost seemed to shiver before breaking. "No use. I can't get him." Shikamaru muttered.

"Who's troublesome now?" Temari grumbled as she she used a wind jutsu to slash the ANBU captain free. Kankuro used his Crow puppet to do the same nearby.

_Man, this is bad!_ Naruto thought as he shielded his eyes from the sand. _We need to stop Gaara... but we can't hurt him! It's Gaara! How're we supposed to do this?!_

Kakashi uncovered his sharingan to try and penetrate the sand so he could get to Gaara. But the moment he used it on the Kazekage, a cloudy, terrifying vision of Shukaku filled his mind. He froze, and then closed his eyes, sliding down his headband to cover Obito's sharingan again. He breathed hard, catching his breath after that frightening vision. "Neji, Hinata..." He gasped out. "I recommend not using Byakugan."

Lee and Guy decided to give it a try next. The two of them being Lee and Guy, they used a taijutsu move without thinking things through very far. "Double Dynamic Entry!" They jumped into the air and flew at Gaara, legs braced for a hard impact. They did make an impact. On Gaara's ultimate defense, his reflexive wall of sand.

"AAAGHHH!" Gaara screamed as an oddly shaped arm of sand broke out of the side of his gourd and attached itself around his shoulder, forming a monstrous partial transformation into Shukaku.

"Brr." Naruto commented. "That's kinda disturbing."

"You can hardly talk!" Sakura yelled, venting fear and anger at her teammate. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Sorry, but being trapped in a small room with Gaara like _this_ isn't exactly a stress-free scenario."

"Arguments later, guys." Kakashi said, holding a kunai out. "Situation now!"

"Right!" What there was left of Team Seven replied.

Kakashi gathered chakra into his hand and guided it into his kunai, charging the blade with the aura of a chidori. Though the Lightning-Style attack was usually rather loud (especially for an assassination technique), the chirping noises were hardly even audible through the eerie whooshing of the sandstorm. "Hunhh!" He grunted as he threw the weapon. It sliced through the sand saturated air, spearing a path towards Gaara. The Kazekage's ultimate defense then blocked it. "Even like this, Gaara's sand protects him. Or maybe especially like this." Team Kakashi's official leader muttered to himself.

Yamato attempted to stop him next, forming several hand signs before ending with his hands clasped together. "Wood-Style: F-" Before he could finish and the stumps of wood could grow out of the walls, a whip of sand knocked the ex-ANBU captain over. "Agh, my head..." He groaned as he sat up. "The kid won't let me finish my jutsu."

"This is useless." Kakashi stated the fact while dodging another sand whip.

"HAAHHH!" Gaara screamed again, spasming a little as another sandy appendage broke out of the gourd on his back. This time it was a spiked tanuki tail.

"Erk!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise, backing up with everyone else in the room.

Luckily for the previously trapped ANBU guards, Temari and Kankuro had finished freeing them. They gathered in a group seemed to discuss something before turning back towards Gaara and leaping. They attacked in a group, working together to get at Gaara. The giant, sandy arm that had formed around Gaara's own batted them away like stray kunai.

_This just got a lot worse..._ Naruto thought. He glanced around the room, desperately trying to think of anything that could give them an edge. Whips of sand swinging near the ceiling? No. The perpetual sandstorm? No. Kakashi and Yamato? Nope, they already tried. _Nothing! Ugh!_

There was sand beginning to pool at their feet, crawling up their legs no matter how much they shook it off or leaped away. The ANBU guards were trying to make radio contact with someone, but the sandstorm was giving off interference. Shifting grains of sand saturated the air, giving the entire room a feeling of thickness filling the atmosphere. Sand slid all over the ground, except for anything that went too near the chakra draining wall.

_Wait! That's it!_ Naruto realized. He yelled out to his friends. "We gotta get him against that wall with the tubes!"

Kakashi's visible eye widened in surprise at that announcement. _So simple the older generation overlooked it... Maybe we **are** getting old._ "That might actually work... No close range attacks though!" He ordered. Kakashi's _Icha Icha_ rotted mind then prompted him to say. "Shikamaru, Temari, how about you two work together on this?"

"Right!" The two ninja were oblivious to Kakashi's attempt to ship them.

Temari started them off by using her fan to blow the sand whips into dispersal temporarily, giving Shikamaru a chance to attack without having to watch them. The Konoha 11's best strategist took it. "Shadow Possession Jutsu!" He shouted out, knowing that he couldn't keep it up for long in those conditions. Once his shadow made contact with Gaara, he took the chance to make them both backflip, landing against opposite walls before the jutsu broke.

The sandstorm actually began to subside. Sand that had been floating in the air settled to the ground, and the streams of sand rushing out of Gaara's gourd dissipated. The monstrous appendages that had appeared shrunk away and disappeared, leaving just Gaara leaning against the wall, panting.

_That actually worked._ Shikamaru thought. _Naruto comes up with some of the simplest ideas that somehow manage to work. _He sat down on the sandy floor, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. _Least that's over with now._

"Troublesome." He muttered.

Temari sidled behind him, leaning on her fan with a smirk on her face. "I could say the same about you." She said coolly.

Kakashi giggled silently behind both of them.

Yamato helped an ANBU to his feet and said. "I'd suggest getting a seal expert in here before those things hit capacity." He gestured towards the chakra draining tubes.

"Right." The masked guard said, turning a knob on his neck radio. "This is ANBU Pelican, we have an urgent situation in here. Temporarily under control, but we need a skilled fuinjutsu user familiar with jinchuriki to take a look at a Suna genin in here."

Kakashi appeared silently behind the ANBU and added in his own two cents. "Kakashi Hatake here, make sure they can work fast and get them here ASAP. Current status is a Yellow-4 and rising."

"Uh, yes, that too. We might need the Hokage. Urgent situation, I repeat, urgent situation." The ANBU agent in a Pelican pask added awkwardly. He turned the radio off.

Naruto overheard that last sentence and a relieved smile broke out on his face. "That's great! Granny Tsunade can fix things."

Shikamaru sighed and said. "Uh, Naruto, I don't think Lady Tsunade is-"

Suddenly, the door was kicked open with a bang and in walked Ibiki, followed by the clan leaders. There was a young ANBU flatly protesting them bursting in, but he was shushed by Ibiki, who clicked a neck radio off. "Urgent situation, you heard it. And the Hokage's presence was requested, you can't get around that. Council's orders are now null and void."

The ANBU in the rat mask promptly tensed and teleported away.

The Hokage stepped out from behind Ibiki's tall girth and looked up from under his wide-brimmed hat. He was shocked to see the older Konoha genin to say the least. "Eh?" He questioned in confusion.

Naruto paled when he saw the Third Hokage. He pointed and yelled out. "Ghost!"

* * *

**AN:** And that finishes up chapter five. Did anyone suspect the solution with the chakra draining wall?

P.S. The Shippuden poll is still up on my profile, and I've published a new Naruto fanfic too.


	6. Chapter 6 - The Nara Theory

**The Nara theory**

"Ghost!" Naruto cried out, pointing at the Third Hokage.

Said Hokage shook off his shock at seeing the older versions of promising genin, and replied. "Well, I might be old, but I'm not dead yet."

"Hm?" Naruto walked around the Third in a circle, poking and prodding at the old man. He flipped the Hokage's hat upside down and balanced it on Sarutobi's balding head. "Okay, I'm pretty sure he's not a ghost."

Kiba decided pipe up with his own opinion. "'Course he's not a ghost, doofus." He crossed his arms calmly.

The Third nodded and said. "Thank you for pointing that ou-"

"He's obviously a Reanimation!" Kiba pointed at the Hokage accusingly.

"Eh?!" Sarutobi's pipe fell out of his mouth.

The younger ANBU guards just looked plain confused, even with their masks on, while Ibiki's face was priceless. The older ANBU were completely shocked as well.

"How do you know about that jutsu?" The Third Hokage asked, a much more threatening and serious expression sliding onto his face as he picked up his pipe and put his hat back on right-side-up. "The Impure World Ressurection Jutsu is forbidden. It's very existence is an S-rank secret on it's own!"

Naruto mumbled something that sounded vaguely like. "Great. Of course it is..."

Shikamaru leaned back against the wall behind him, perpendicular to Gaara, and crossed his arms and legs, semi-relaxed. "Two words for you. Time. Travel. Or, as I like to think of it, the Nara Theory."

"Eh?!" Nearly everyone exclaimed something at that.

The lazy genius continued. "We can explain after you fix Gaara." A not-so-subtle reminder of the task the Hokage had come in to do.

"Ah, yes, right." Sarutobi turned to look at the blank-faced redhead against the chakra draining wall. The old man walked over to the sixteen-year-old and said. "The Sand Village has a habit of placing seals on the back of people's necks, don't they?" It wasn't really a question.

Gaara leaned forward to let the Hokage take a look. He trusted Konoha, and by association the Third Hokage. Not Danzo though, he'd have to be a complete idiot to trust Danzo. Old Sarutobi took a glance at the Kazekage's neck and saw a glowing red seal, vaguely resembling a cartwheel cut into thirds.

"An odd-numbered seal, eh?" He said, taking the pipe out of his mouth and dropping it into a pocket somewhere. "That makes things simpler." He raised his right hand, fingers outstretched and slightly curled, chakra glowing at their tips. "I apologize, but this might hurt a little. Five-pronged Sealing Technique!" He jabbed the hand at Gaara's neck, making contact with the cartwheel seal.

Gaara winced, but after the brief process ended, he relaxed. The voice of Shukaku was silenced. "Thank you." The future Kazekage rasped out.

"Don't thank me yet, boy." The Third Hokage said grimly. "The way things are looking, unless you can convince me and the council that you're all really time-travelers, you're going to be Ibiki's newest prisoners."

Ibiki, standing in front of the door with the clan heads lined up next to him, decided to speak up at the mention of his name. "I'm actually inclined to believe their time-travel claim. I got a citizen registration scroll running a recognition seal implanted in the wall. And-" He paused to open a secret compartment in the wall, taking out a small red scroll and unfurling it as he stepped closer to the Konoha 11 and their time-traveling teachers. "According to this, facial structure, chakra signatures, fingerprints, they're all matches." He stopped to consider something. "Besides those three, no idea about them." He gestured towards the Sand Siblings.

"Who are you then?" Tsume snarled, glaring pointedly at the three siblings.

Temari's mouth seemed to open on a reflex and she said with a smirk. "Allies of the Leaf Village..."

"We're shinobi..." Kankuro continued, a satisfied grin on his face.

Gaara was silent for a second, but at Kankuro's pleading look he sighed and resigned himself to finishing the mantra. "Of the Sand..."

"Oh, come on!" Kiba shouted. "Why do they always get to say the cool lines?"

Shino appeared behind the Inuzuka and whispered. "This is not the time, Kiba."

The nin- and taijutsu user stiffened and sweat-dropped, apologizing in his own way. "R-right. Not the time."

Sarutobi decided to ignore Kiba's outburst and spoke to Shikamaru, recognizing him as leader of the future Konoha 11. Or what appeared to be them, at any rate. "Do you have any proof that you've... time-traveled?"

Shikamaru looked at the Third Hokage flatly and replied. "I'd tell you, if I was sure there aren't any spies here." His eyes roved over the ANBU guards.

Shikaku Nara stepped forward and analyzed his son's posture and body language, as if trying to verify that it was really Shikamaru. "Why wouldn't you trust ANBU?" He asked.

"I'll be blunt." Was the response. "Danzo."

All of the clan heads visibly stiffened at the name. They weren't any more fond of the politician than Ibiki was.

The Third Hokage thought carefully about what his options were. _I could use the teleportation seals in this room to bring them to my office. There are privacy seals there. The claim of time-travel though... It's ridiculous, but I can't dismiss it either... There's always the option of throwing them to Ibiki and Anko, but I'd rather go through a simple questioning first. To my office it is then._

"Alright. We'll head to my office. All ANBU personnel are to stay behind." The old man ordered. He made a series of hand signs and slammed his palm against the wall with a _thump!_ Two dozen or so puffs of smoke later, the waiting room was missing six clan heads, Ibiki, seventeen prisoners, and one Hokage. Though Akamaru was still there for some reason.

"Arf?" The nin-dog barked.

Ibiki suddenly reappeared in a puff of jutsu smoke and placed a hand on Akamaru. He slapped the wall and both of them disappeared.

The ANBU guards sweat-dropped.

* * *

Akamaru appeared in a puff of smoke, Ibiki by the nin-dog's side. The head of T&I moved to stand by the Hokage. Though the office was a little cramped for so many people, they had to make do with it, the "captured" shinobi sitting down on their knees or cross-legged. Akamaru yipped and plonked himself down next to Kiba.

The Third Hokage nodded to the clan heads, but his eyes were on the Konoha 11 and the Sand Siblings. He took note of the fact that the three Suna shinobi were interspersed with the Leaf ninja, not sitting away from their Konoha counterparts. The girl with the giant fan sat next to someone who appeared to be Shikamaru Nara, a clan heir, and the one with the scrolls on his back leaned a little closer to the weapons mistress, Tenten her name was. What interested the old man most was the fact that Gaara, someone who all the other listened to, despite Shikamaru's apparent leadership, seemed to be good friends with Naruto.

He mentally sighed. _I really ought to be retire sometime soon. Maybe take some of the nastier council members with me. Getting too old to deal with this kind of situation._

"First thing's first." Sarutobi announced. He looked to the clan heads. "Can you verify their identities?"

Tsume Inuzuka replied immediately. "I checked 'em the minute I walked into that ANBU room. I'm sure of the ones I've met before. Kiba, most of all."

Hiashi Hyuuga made a quick hand sign and whispered. "Byakugan!" Veins bulged near his eyes and he took a good look at the 'prisoners'. "No disguise that I can see. Their chakra signatures are slightly different though, older. But that's to be expected if this... Nara Theory... is accurate." He refused to say the words 'time-travel'.

Shikaku Nara made a suggestion. "Instead of checking with everyone who knows these ninja, why don't we just see if they're telling the truth?"

Inoichi pondered the idea. "I do have a jutsu that could be used for mass interrogations... Why not? It couldn't hurt. None of us will be able to lie either though."

The Third Hokage nodded his approval.

The head of the Yamanaka clan moved through a complicated series of hand signs, before ending on a rat seal in an odd imitation of the Nara clan. "Lie Detector Jutsu!" He announced the name of the jutsu.

The room they were in disappeared, fading away to reveal an eerie gray space that seemed endless in every direction. They were standing on nothing.

"Ah!" Several of the louder ninja, namely Kiba and Naruto, were audibly startled by this.

The Konoha Eleven and the Sand Siblings were suddenly sitting in plain wooden seats, as were everyone else. The shadows below their seats were light gray circles.

Ino looked at her new surroundings with interest and exclaimed. "Wow! So this is the Lie Detector Jutsu? I still haven't learned this one yet." The gray circle that was her shadow beneath her chair turned white.

Her father, seated in his own wooden chair with his hands still making the rat seal, explained the abilities of the jutsu. "We're in a shared mental space here. It's non-existent in reality, though whatever you say here you say in the real world. With the privacy seal on, that won't matter. The shadows beneath your chairs are gray when you aren't making a statement. They're white when you say something true, and black when you lie. Partial truths or omissions will show as a half-half shadow. We have maneuverability in here, but you lot don't."

He stood up to prove his last statement, the wooden chair fading out of existence. The shadow at his feet remained white through his entire explanation, before darkening back to gray as he stopped speaking. Inoichi's chair popped out of no where and he sat back down again.

Ibiki sighed and stood next. "Right, don't lie." He pointed at Chouji, who was at the outer edge of the Konoha 11. "You, Akimichi. Did you really time-travel?"

"Yes? No?" Chouji scratched his head in confusion. His shadow was half-white, half-black. "I don't know! It's Shikamaru's theory." His shadow turned white as he said that.

Sarutobi sat back and analyzed the information they received from that answer. _It seems that the Nara is the leader of the group by default. Or Ino-Shika-Chou at the very least._

Ibiki nodded sternly, satisfied by the answer he was given. "You." He looked Shikamaru in the eyes. "Same question."

"I'm pretty sure we have." Was the lazy reply. Shikamaru's shadow was white. "I suspected it when we landed in the exam classroom and the genjutsu didn't dispel. The more we see, the more I'm certain that we've really gone back in time. No idea how we got here, but we did." His shadow turned gray again after he finished talking. No lies or omissions.

"Alright." Ibiki faced the whole lot of them. "That was the immediate question. Now for traditions. Give us your name, rank, and purpose. Sand ninja first."

"Define 'purpose'." Was Shikamaru's somewhat snarky reply.

The Third Hokage answered the young Nara. "Given your... circumstances, a brief summary of what you were doing before you 'landed' would suffice."

Shikamaru nodded approvingly. Somehow, the interrogators and observing clan heads felt like they were the ones being questioned.

"As I said before, Sand ninja first." Ibiki demanded.

* * *

**AN:** Personally, I don't think this is the best chapter I've ever written... It didn't want to come out. Sorry for the choppiness, but please leave a review!

P.S. Shippuden anime poll still up on my profile.


	7. Chapter 7 - Political immunity

**Political immunity**

The Sand Siblings glanced at each other, and some method of silent communication seemed to pass between the threesome. They looked away, and the two elder siblings looked uncertain. Gaara kept a poker face. Kakashi, Yamato, and Guy were on the opposite side of the group, and the copy-nin decided to speak up and say what was on the mind of all three jonin-sensei.

"Just trust them." Kakashi said flatly, managing to look bored even during interrogation. "It's standard procedure anyway."

Temari nodded and introduced herself first, though giving only the bare minimum Ibiki had asked for. "I'm Temari. Jonin. I was fighting a Reanimation before getting dumped in the past, if Shika's right about the time-travel." Her shadow was white. No lies, half-truths, or blatant omissions of what Ibiki had asked for.

Kankuro went next, and while being just as paranoid as his sister, he was more open as well. "Kankuro, puppet master and jonin of the Sand Village. Something funky went on with Granny Chiyo and the Reanimation Jutsu before the... time-travel... The jutsu just kinda stopped, the zombies turned ghosty, and then they went away." He was much cruder than Temari as well. The shadow beneath his seat was an odd one though. Half-white, half-gray. Nearly everyone else assumed it had some meaning that Inoichi wasn't willing to tell them. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and added it to his analysis of the Yamanaka's jutsu.

Gaara answered after his brother, quieter and more formally than his siblings had. "I am Gaara of the Desert. I used a sand-based technique to seal away the Reanimated Second Mizukage just before I found myself in that classroom." A half-black, half-white shadow beneath his chair.

The Third Hokage sighed and spoke up. "I'd ask about the Reanimation Jutsu, but something tells me that forbidden technique is just the tip of the iceberg. Go on, each of you introduce yourselves."

Ibiki Morino, the head of ANBU's T&I Division, pointed something out about Gaara's response before any of the other drop-ins could continue. "Hold it, _Gaara of the Desert_." He exaggerated each syllable of the name. "What's your rank?" Though it lasted for only an instant, Ibiki could've sworn he saw the redhead smirk before answering.

"Kazekage." Was the reply.

At that, Ibiki, Sarutobi, and the clan heads were really thrown for a loop. Even the stoic, calm, and collected Hiashi Hyuuga couldn't hide a bug-eyed reaction at the title. Inoichi's jaw dropped knowing that the Suna ninja had told what he believed to be the truth. _Either this kid's really the future Kazekage, or he's completely nuts. _

The Third Hokage cleared his throat and somewhat nervously said. "Well, it seems you've all told the truth so far, seeing how Inoichi hasn't pointed anyone out. Let's continue."

Ibiki nodded and gestured to the jonin-sensei. "You three next."

Kakashi yawned and coolly replied in much the same manner he'd introduced himself to Team Seven three years ago. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Jonin of the Leaf Village. Before we traveled back in time, I was on a battlefield with Guy and my student Naruto, facing a man who called himself 'Tobi', and a reanimated Madara Uchiha."

At the words 'Madara Uchiha', the interrogators had a relapse of their reactions to Gaara's rank. From Neji's point of view, seeing his Uncle with his mouth wide open and Byakugan eyes bugged out was priceless.

"A-ah." The Third Hokage stuttered out. "We'll have to hear more about that later. Just... continue with the introductions for now."

Kakashi was enjoying the interrogation immensely. They might've been fighting a war just an hour ago, but he could still get some entertainment out of the time-travel business. He accepted the Nara Theory more readily than most of the others, and for some reason the thought that time-travel existed niggled the memory of filing a nearly blank mission report alongside his sensei, and Chouza Akimichi, and Shibi Aburame. Ah, well.

Guy, being Guy, shouted out his name immediately. "I am the Great Green Beast of the Leaf... Guy Maito!" He assumed a nice-guy pose with a thumbs up and wide smile. A sunset-over-the-beach genjutsu appeared behind him. "Jonin-level ninja of Konoha! I was fighting the Villainous Duo of Obito and Madara Alongside my Eternal Rival, Kakashi, and his Youthful Student!" His shadow stayed grey throughout is entire exclamatory speech.

Inoichi muttered. "Genjutsu isn't supposed to be possible in here..."

"Uh, yes, thank you, Guy." Ibiki sweat-dropped and tried to move the interrogation along. He was inclined to trust the drop-in group. "Keep going with the intros."

The Wood-Style using ANBU captain went next. "I'm Yamato. Jonin. The last thing I remember before all this is being captured and brought to a cave somewhere." His shadow stayed white-colored while he spoke. Shikamaru paid extra close attention to the captain's shadow throughout his answer.

Ibiki nodded and then gestured to Team Guy, who were next to each other.

Neji was first. "I'm Neji Hyuuga. Jonin. I just escaped a trap jutsu cast by four reanimated Sound ninja." Brief and to the point.

Tenten spoke next. "I'm Tenten, a chunin. I was recovering from using a ninja tool that exhausted me. I think I'm mostly better now." She shrugged.

Lee shouted out his introduction in a way that reflected his sensei's. "I am the Second Great Green Beast of the Leaf... Rock Lee!" A nice-guy pose and sunset-beach genjutsu courtesy of Guy. "Before we landed in the Past, I was Fighting side-by-side against the Enemy with Guy-sensei!"

"Er, tracking team next." Ibiki moved the questioning along.

Hinata somewhat confusedly said. "I'm Hinata Hyuuga. I'm a chunin, and I was helping my cousin, Neji, in a fight against the Zetsu clones. I never noticed any trap jutsu..." Shikamaru and Kakashi's eyes widened at that. They'd both come to the same conclusion, and nodded to each other.

Kiba spoke next. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka, and unlike a certain idiot, I'm already a chunin." He teased. Naruto's indignant protests were silenced by a blow to his head, courtesy of Sakura. "No idea what Neji was talking about though, last I checked we were still trapped in that dome before we landed here." He was telling the truth.

Shino gave his introduction next. "Shino Aburame. Chunin. My comrades collapsed as a result of the trap jutsu and I used my kikaichu to keep their chakra systems running. The kikaichu-"

"Let's move this along." Ibiki interrupted. "The two from Kakashi's squad next."

While Naruto was rubbing the bump on his head from Sakura's blow, the pink-haired kunoichi answered. "I'm Sakura Haruno, a chunin medic. I... I dealt a blow to an enemy disguised as a childhood friend, just before I appeared in the classroom."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" The loudmouthed blond yelled out.

"And still a genin." Kiba added teasingly.

"Shut it." Naruto said before continuing. "I'm gonna be Hokage someday!"

"Ah-hem, continuing. Move it along." Ibiki ordered.

"Oh, right." Naruto replied. "I was with Kakashi-sensei and Bushier-Brows-sensei. We were fighting against Madara and that masked guy with three names."

Though a lot of the statements the interrogators received wasn't very clear, a picture was starting to form from the pieces they'd gotten. The one thing that was frighteningly clear though, was that the drop-in shinobi were in the middle of something big when they got pulled into the past. Their headbands were strange too, most of them didn't have a village symbol at all, instead showing the kanji for 'shinobi'. The clan heads had noticed that a while ago, but as Ibiki and the Hokage were taking charge of the questioning, they didn't bother pointing it out to the two questioners. They probably noticed them too.

"Right." Ibiki scowled. "Moving on. Ino-Shika-Chou."

"Ino Yamanaka. Chunin. I was trying my best to keep Shikamaru and Chouji alive while their minds were stuck in the trap jutsu." A quick and professional statement, and 100% truthful.

"Chouji Akamichi. I'm a chunin too. I was stuck inside the dome-shaped trap jutsu with Shikamaru, Neji, and Kiba, but then Shikamaru's plan worked out, Naruto broke the jutsu, and we escaped."

Last but certainly not least was the lazy teenage jonin. "Shikamaru Nara. I'm a chunin. As Chouji said, my plan worked out and we escaped the jutsu. By the way, the flaws of this Lie Detector Jutsu are really kinda obvious."

Inoichi and Ibiki, the infamous T&I partners, stiffened. "Well, you're definitely Shikaku's kid." Inoichi said. "How'd you figure it out?"

"Kankuro." Shikamaru answered calmly. "When he answered, his truth-shadow was half white and half gray. I suspected it then, but as the interrogation went on and the more... enthusiastic... answers didn't set off the detection, I got a confirmation. This jutsu only detects lies in statements. Jokes, sarcasm, questions, exclamations, it doesn't work quite as well on anything else. The fact that this isn't a more widely used jutsu fits right in. It's a jutsu that only understands flat statements, and wouldn't be of any use on someone who already knows how it works. Am I right?"

The head of T&I nodded.

Ino blinked. "You know, I never knew that."

A knocking sound was heard, and a voice came out of nowhere. It was Danzo. "Lord Hokage, I know you are questioning the impostor shinobi in your office. Open the door."

The Third Hokage sighed wearily. Danzo had always been a problem, but how he'd known they were in his office so quickly... That cemented it, there were traitors in the ANBU. Perhaps Ibiki's theory that ROOT hadn't been wiped out had some merit to it after all. He nodded to Inoichi, and the head of the Yamanaka let his hand seal go, releasing the jutsu. They were in the Hokage's office again. Sarutobi discreetly turned off the privacy seal.

"Come in." He said.

The door creaked open and a heavily bandaged man walked in. Several members of the Konoha 11 stiffened, and a few glared at the councilman. _Well, looks like Danzo isn't popular in the future... _Sarutobi thought.

"The impostors will be imprisoned. That is the ruling of the council, Lord Hokage." Danzo said. Homura and Koharu stood behind him, looking like they weren't completely at ease with the decision.

Ibiki was the one who replied. "New information's come to light, Danzo." He crossed his arms and a stern expression appeared on his face. "It might be hard to believe, but we've verified that these ninja are time-travelers."

"Time-travel. Really." Danzo sneered disbelievingly, but he didn't completely dismiss the notion. "Can they offer any proof?"

"Actually, we can." Shikamaru spoke up. The clan heads looked at him disapprovingly, it really wasn't the time for a kid to add his two cents in. The time-traveling Nara continued. "But we won't. If everything we know gets out, it could mess up the time stream or something like that. Wouldn't want that, would we?"

Danzo flatly responded. "Even if this... time-travel theory is true, you'll still be arrested."

"No we won't." Shikamaru smiled knowingly.

"Really. Why not?" The bandaged man asked.

Shikamaru replied. "Political immunity."

* * *

**AN:** Rio here! Sorry this chapter was so badly written... it came out even worse than the last. I can't seem to fix a dialogue-centric part of the story though. I'm hoping it'll be easier to write after all the explanations are done though - which they should be within a few chapters. Please read and review!


	8. Chapter 8 - Now what?

**Now what?**

"What was that?" Danzo Shimura, corrupted councilman extraordinaire, asked. It wasn't quite a question though, more like a, _'How dare you!'_ The mummy man kept his hands tucked into his sleeves, but you could see his arms tensing.

Shikamaru replied, as relaxed and lazy as ever. "You heard me. Political immunity."

The two Leaf shinobi stared at each other, though on Danzo's part it was more like a glare. Though Shikamaru looked lazy as only a Nara could, those who knew him well (or messed with people's heads for a living) picked up the subtle signs of worry and tension in him. His hands, while in his lap, kept twitching, and coming together in a circle only for Shikamaru to break them apart. His shoulders were slightly raised, and his left foot couldn't stay as still as the rest of him. The most obvious, and worrying, sign however, was his posture. Shikamaru was sitting up straight and looking Danzo in the eye.

Ibiki observed the stare-down with an analytical gaze. _Hmm. The kid speaks politician._

Though the room was crowded with over twenty people, the only ones who seemed to exist were Shikamaru and Danzo. At last, the councilman spoke. "Political immunity. Would you care to explain that?"

Shikamaru crossed his arms and gazed at Danzo flatly. "I think you'd like it better if I don't. But for your information, Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro here are the Kazekage's children. How d'ya like the sound of that?"

Danzo stiffened. _He knows...__  
_

The councilman spoke again, more politely and carefully than before. "Well, seeing how the Lord Hokage seems to think you aren't impostors, I can't override that decision." He paused, and his next sentence was more worrying than any threat he could've made. "I don't know what to think of this time-travel story, but the council has decided that you'll all be demoted to genin besides Hatake, Maito, and the captain. Luckily for you, the chunin exams have been postponed until tomorrow. Good day." He turned and the door slammed shut behind him.

"That leech's broken the privacy seal." Ibiki growled out.

The clan heads and the Hokage, being more knowledgeable in that matter, glanced at each other holding a silent conversation.

Sarutobi, flustered and frustrated by the events of the day, commanded. "All of you time-travelers or whatever it is you call yourselves, you're on gate duty! Now! And everything you know of the future is an S-class secret!" He waved them out the door, and the mob streamed into the hallway.

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"All of us?!" Kiba yelled.

"What- yes, go!" The Third Hokage shooed them out and closed the door on them.

The hall was silent after that door closed. Chouji was the one who asked. "So... what now?"

"The Wise Hokage has Given us his Trust!" Guy shouted for all to hear. "He has Entrusted us, a possible Threat from his Point of View, with Something as Important as Gate Duty!"

Lee cried tears of joy as he followed up. "Yes! The Miraculously Alive Third Hokage has Trusted us, and we Shall Complete our Duty! To the Gates!"

Guy and his mini-clone jumped out the nearest window and sprinted to the gates.

"..."

"Well, now that they've taken care of that..." Kakashi began. "Who's up for a picnic?"

* * *

**AN:** I'm so so sorry for the short chapter! I've been working on my other fic, The Memories that Could've Been, and that's caught my focus for now. This is going into a temporary hiatus, which I don't think will last longer than a month or two. Please forgive me, but I'm not abandoning this yet!


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